CJK 04. Phytotherapy : emerging therapeutic option in urologic disease

Complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) is defined as a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine by National Institute of Health in North America. CAM practices are often grouped into broad categories, such as natural products, mind-body medicine, and manipulative and body-based practices. Phytotherapy belongs to the area of CAM and the definition of phytotherapy is the use of plants or plant extracts for medicinal uses. An interest of phytotherapy grows both in Asian and Western countries for the prevention and management of disease, the improvement of general health and antiaging. And also, there are several studies about the efficacy of phytotherapy in urologic disease like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), erectile dysfunction (ED) and late-onset hypogonadism in male and in addition, phytotherapy showed the effect on urologic diseases. However, the treatment effect is still controversial, therefore, more evidence-based studies and efforts to prove action mechanism are essential in the respect of clinical application of phytotherapy.